Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a load control system for controlling the power delivered to one or more electrical loads, and more particularly, to a load control system comprising a controllable electrical outlet having a controlled wired output for controlling the power delivered to outlets of other electrical outlets and thus electrical loads connected to those outlets.
Description of the Related Art
Many consumers reduce the total cost of electrical energy by reducing the total energy usages of electrical loads, such as lighting loads. For example, lighting loads are often controlled in response to occupancy and vacancy sensors, which detect occupancy and/or vacancy conditions in a space, to save energy. Typically, the lighting loads are turned on when the space is occupied and turned off when the space is unoccupied. In addition, consumers are becoming more sensitive to the amount of energy consumed by electrical loads, such as plug-in electrical loads that are plugged into electrical receptacles. Such plug-in electrical loads may still consume energy to maintain a standby mode when “turned off” and are often referred to as “vampire” loads. Some standards (such as ASHRAE 90.1 and California Title 24) are now requiring that many electrical outlets installed in new construction or major renovations must be controlled (e.g., switched) to provide energy savings. For example, the electrical outlets may be controlled in response to a timeclock and/or an occupancy or vacancy sensor.
Some prior art systems for controlling (e.g., switching) electrical outlets include load control devices that may be remotely-located, for example, out of view above a ceiling of a room, behind a wall of a room, or in a remote electrical closet. Installation of these prior art systems may be complicated since electrical wires need to be run from the remotely-located load control devices to the electrical outlets. The load control devices may be responsive to input devices (e.g., wireless transmitters), such as timeclocks and/or an occupancy or vacancy sensors. However, to program the load control device to be responsive to the input devices, the remotely-located load control devices must be accessed (e.g., to press a button on the load control device), which increases the time (and thus the cost) required to program the system since the load control device is remotely located from the input devices. Further, the need to have an additional load control device for controlling the electrical outlets adds cost to the load control system.
Some prior art electrical outlets are configured to directly receive wireless signals, e.g., radio-frequency (RF) signals, such that an additional remotely-located load control device is not required to control the electrical outlets. However, these RF-responsive electrical outlets cost more than a standard electrical outlet. In order to provide control of most of the electrical outlets in a building, an RF-responsive electrical outlet must be installed in each and every wallbox where control of plug-in electrical loads is desired, which greatly adds to the cost of the load control system.